10 Causes for the Rise of Obesity Rates

Obesity is a complicated disease, and some people mistakenly assume that there is only one cause — lack of willpower — and one solution — more willpower. The facts tell a different story.

The percent of the population with obesity remained virtually unchanged until 1980. After that, the rate began to skyrocket. Since it’s unlikely that something suddenly began handicapping willpower beginning 30 years ago, experts have come to the conclusion that a number of other factors are in play.

In a recent review of studies, Louis J. Aronne and Suzanne B. Wright at the Weill Cornell Medical College identified the top factors the implicated in the rise of obesity rates in the U.S. These factors include a polluted food environment, decreases in physical activity and sleep time, maternal weight, infection, medications, exposure to endocrine disruptors, declines in smoking rates, intra-uterine effects, increasing maternal age, and decreased variability in ambient temperatures.

Click here to read the article in Psychology Today and here to read the original publication.